When the engine is not producing power (i.e., just idling) it does not produce enough heat to require a 2" hose a 3/4" heater hose is more than adequate.
I know guys with 1800cc Subarus in airplanes that use 3/4" heater hose to the radiators - and work the engines hard producing minimum 80HP
It would be very inefficient. Why not just make a stove of some type to burn the gasoline in the building? Looks like a lot of wood laying around I'd think it wouldn't be that hard to keep one's self warm.
Some of the survivors of the Japan earthquake/tsunami are sheltering in schools without heat. Is it possible to use a car engine to safely heat the interior of a building?
Could you disconnect the radiator, bring it indoors, and use hoses to connect it to the rest of the car outside? Garden hoses have a smaller diameter than radiator hoses but could you use several hoses in parallel? (What sort of adapter would you use?)
The only way I see this making any economic sense is if this was an off the grid cabin and the engine was running a gen set. Piping the cooling water to a radiator inside would not be that tough, just be sure the exhaust gas is going away from any openings in the house.
In the disaster zone there are widespread gas shortages. This is week 3.
As far as wood stoves, they would work but you have to vent them. Not a trivial problem.
So far, no one has so far considered how they did heat their homes:
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This is the most common type of heater in Japan. It sits on the floor, weighs only a few pounds, and can be moved around easily. Its fuel is kerosene. In the event of an earthquake or somebody hitting it by accident, there is a mechanism that pulls down the wick to turn it off quickly in order to prevent a fire.
It would appear that the average household had many many gallons of kerosene on hand.
The need for electricity is as great as heat. In which case the car battery can be considered. I've run emergency 12 v fluorescent lighting on one for many days, and if the car still runs, you can recharge it.
Now the issue of cogeneration, which is what a car does (power for lights/radio, heat for the interior and locomotion) is interesting and I see no small generators that do that (heat and power). Not uncommon as you go way up the scale.
Many of the homes have smaller sometimes portable heating systems. Kerosene, propane, and electric. The rural Japamese are a bit more used to not having the entire house heated to 70deg 24/7.
When we lived in Vermont, we had a wood stove. Though we never had a major power outage (close) it was comforting to know that we had a backup to the furnace. We used less than 1/4 cord of wood a year (only used in the evenings when it was below zero) but I kept a cord around for an emergency.
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